Hassan Askari, the civilian son of a retired army officer who was sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment by a military court, has returned home.
Hassan Askari, son of Major-General (R) Zafar Mehdi Askari, was arrested on October 2, 2020 for writing critical letters to the military leadership when General Qamar Javed Bajwa was the chief of army staff (COAS). He was sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment by a military court in October 2021.
Askari, who is a computer engineer by profession, reportedly wrote the critical letter to the army high command in September last year.
According to The News, Askari was represented by an officer deputed by the Pakistan military court in a trial conducted in July this year.
During the trial, Askari’s father complained that he was facing difficulties in meeting his son who was being kept at a high-security prison in Sahiwal.
The Islamabad High Court took up the case in January and directed the authorities concerned to hold the treason trial in camera.
There was no official announcement about Askari’s trial and sentencing, and the details came out in a petition recently filed by his father in the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court.
